Austin Branch Newsletter

March 2008

Volume 12, Number 7

In This Issue…
Meeting/Speaker Info

President's Message

Eckols-Engineer of the Year

Bowl for Kids Sake Raises $19K

EWB-Central Texas Chapter

Meeting Sponsor Info

History & Heritage

Call for Conference Presenters

YMF Update

UT Austin Update

Austin Children’s Museum

Continuing Education

March Branch Meeting – March 18, 2008

Topic
CTRMA Projects

Speaker
Mike Heiligenstein

CTRMA Executive Director

When
Tuesday, March 18th
Social - 11:30 to Noon;  Lunch/Speaker - Noon to 1:00 PM

Where
Embassy Suites North - 5901 N. IH 35

Cost
$15 with RSVP; $5 for Government/Students; Additional $5 without RSVP

RSVP
Click here to RSVP by Noon, Friday, March 14th

\Meeting Sponsor

Quick Links…

About Us

Job Board

Younger Member Forum

March Speaker: Mike Heiligenstein, Executive Director of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority

CTRMA Projects

As the first Executive Director of the Mobility Authority, Mike brings a unique blend of qualifications to the position. He served 23 years as a Central Texas public official in the rapidly growing communities of Round Rock and Williamson County. As both a City Councilman and County Commissioner, he initiated and helped supervise over $500 million in capital improvement projects. In 2000, he spearheaded a $350 million transportation initiative that changed the dynamics of mobility throughout Central Texas. Mike was actively involved in all aspects of implementing the program: public presentations; contract management; rating agency presentations; pricing as well as personally engaging in needed land acquisition for the Central Texas Turnpike Project, SH45. Mike has also been a leader in environmental and other public infrastructure causes throughout his public career.

As County Commissioner he was instrumental in putting the arguments of parkland on the Williamson County Agenda. The County now has over 1,000 acres of parkland under some phase of development. He was influential in the first phase of the Brushy Creek Regional Trail. He chaired the Clean Air Force (the regional air quality initiative of Central Texas) where he actively participated in the development of the EPA Early Action Compact for Central Texas. He also chaired the air and water quality subcommittees for the National Association of Counties and became chair of the Conference of Urban Counties before resigning his commissioner's seat and private sector employment to assume the Executive Directorship of the Mobility Authority. Mike was a founding board member and two-time vice chair of the Austin-San Antonio Corridor Council and a founding member and board member for the Envision Central Texas project.

Mike earned a Bachelor and Masters of Government from the University of Texas in Austin and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

President’s Message
by Kelly A. Barney, PE

February was an outstanding month for the Branch and I hope you were all able to be a part of it!  Congratulations and appreciation goes out to Linda Barlow and her committee for organizing yet another successful Austin Children’s Museum event.  Hundreds of kids were able to visit the Museum at no cost and enjoy all of the different activities.  Thanks to all of the volunteers and sponsors that helped make this event so successful!

Our February luncheon was one you should not have missed.  Mr. Robert Daigh, the Austin District Engineer for TXDOT joined us for a very well attended presentation that discussed the finances of the Texas Department of Transportation.  We had a record breaking 155 attendees and I would like to thank Mr. Daigh again for volunteering to speak at our luncheon.

We also presented our four (4) scholarship winners who were selected from a great pool of candidates from the University of Texas.  The winners were:  Ty Womble, Ryan Rush, Michelle Wilkinson and Martin Scales.  Three out of the four were able to attend the luncheon and receive a certificate for the scholarship awards which were dispersed in January.  This year, we awarded $6,000 in scholarships to the University of Texas.

Dale Murphy once again did an outstanding job on organizing an ASCE group for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl for Kids Sake event that was held on Friday, February 22, 2008.  With a total of 19 teams in the ASCE group, we all managed to raise over $19,000 for the Big Brothers Big Sisters!  This is outstanding and thanks to all that participated in the 80’s-themed event and to everyone who donated!

Looking forward to another exciting month!  If you would like to get involved in the Branch, check out our website at www.austinasce.org or please feel free to contact me at Pape-Dawson Engineers, Inc. at 512-454-8711 or at kbarney@pape-dawson.com.  There is an opportunity waiting for you!

Three of our four 2008 scholarship recipients were recognized at the February Branch meeting.

Shelby Eckols – Austin Branch 2008 Civil Engineer of the Year

Shelby Eckols is a native of the Austin, Texas area and a 1970 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, BSCE.  During his eleven years with Fluor Engineers in Houston, TX, he designed and constructed oil refineries and chemical plant projects along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas, and in Mexico, South America, Europe and the Middle East.  His strong desire to return to Austin was fulfilled in 1984 when he accepted a job with Turner Collie & Braden Inc. (TCB) as Resident Engineer on construction of the South Austin Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant in southeast Austin.  He has remained with TCB through its merger with AECOM, and is today the Project Delivery Leader for the Austin Office and the Senior Vice President responsible for the Public Works Group.  During his 23-year tenure at Fluor he has managed the design and construction of numerous major water and wastewater facilities throughout central and south Texas, and he is currently performing the off-site facility design for Water Treatment Plant No. 4 for the City of Austin.

Shelby is a registered professional engineer in Texas and Florida.  He has been a member of the ASCE since 1974; is a member of the Water Environment Federation of Texas; and has served in numerous officer positions, including President of the Austin Contractors and Engineers Association (ACEA).  As ACEA President, he initiated that organization’s Christmas sponsorship of a needy child care facility in South Austin, a tradition which endures at  ACEA today.

A Trustee of the Driftwood Methodist Church, Shelby also served on the Building Committee for the new Education Building.  He is the Treasurer of the Driftwood Cemetery Association; a past director of Camp Ben McCulloch; and a past member of the Leisurewoods Property Owners Association Architectural Control Committee.  Shelby also served with the 871^st Engineering Battalion of the United States Army Reserve from 1970 until 1976.

Shelby’s family includes Nica, his wife of 38 years, and their two sons in whom they share a great pride. Both sons are college graduates, and Dane and his wife Rachael live in Austin and work in the field of drug research.  Colby and his wife Allison also live in Austin.  Colby works in the municipal bond field and Allison works on the field of public relations.  Shelby and Nica have one granddaughter, Gabriela, who is absolutely gorgeous and perfect in every way, according to Grandpa and Grandma.  

Austin ASCE Raised $19,000+ for Big Brothers Big Sisters

by Dale Murphy, P.E.

Companies and members representing the Austin Brach participated for the 3^rd straight year in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas annual Bowl for Kids Sake fundraiser.  We had 19 teams, representing various companies and government organizations, and a total of 99 bowlers who raised over $19,000!!!  The fundraising culminated in a night of bowling at Highland Lanes on February 22^nd at Highland Lanes. 

Top fundraising teams included:  K Friese & Associates ($2,410), CDM ($2,212), LAN ($1,410), Espey Consultants ($1,330), and HDR ($1,300).  For a full list of the participating companies and organizations, and pictures from the event, please go to our website.  Thank you so much to all those who participated and those who donated to this amazing cause. 

Engineers without Borders – Central Texas Chapter:

building a better world one community at a time

by Kristin Kasper, P.E.

Engineers Without Borders – USA is a non-profit [501(c)3] humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life. This partnership involves the implementation of environmentally- and economically- sustainable engineering projects, while engaging and training responsible engineering professionals. Typical projects deal with sanitation and public health, drinking water supply, irrigation systems, and generation/distribution of electricity (e.g., using solar power) to remote villages.

The projects are always realized with the assistance of the local community that will benefit from the project. This community provides labor and a share of the equipment and material resources. In addition, local engineers or students are trained to operate and maintain the system once it is in place, thereby assuring long-term sustainability.

Several Austin-area engineers have come together to form a local chapter - EWB-USA Central Texas - and we invite you to join us! We meet the 1^st Tuesday of every month at 6:30PM.  Meetings are held at 505 Barton Springs Road, Austin, TX, 78704 (City of Austin’s One Texas Center Building) on the 3^rd Floor.

EWB-USA Central Texas has many opportunities for you to get involved.  Come be a part of our monthly meetings, happy hours, training sessions, quarterly events or project teams.  At our monthly meetings you can snack on cookies and fair trade coffee while listening to inspiring speakers talk about their experience in third world countries.  Our training sessions provide opportunities to learn cultural and project specific skills while the quarterly events offer our chapter opportunities to volunteer in the Austin area.

One example of a project completed by the EWB-USA Central Texas chapter is the Cerro Iglesia I, Panama-water distribution sytem. The project entailed development of a system for delivering spring water to a community of 4 families in Cerro Iglesia I, Panama. There were three main components to our project: the toma, or spring box; the tanque, tank; and the water line to the houses.  This project was completed in Summer 2007.   

If you are interested in finding out more about our chapter, please e-mail Laura at secretary@ewbcentraltexas.org .   We look forward to meeting you!

March Meeting Sponsor – Jacobs Carter Burgess

Jacobs Carter Burgess has 3,200 employees in 30 offices across the United States and offers a wide range of architectural, engineering, planning and management services.  The firm has been in professional practice for 68 years.  In November 2007, Carter & Burgess Inc. was acquired by Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. and is marketing under the name Jacobs Carter Burgess.  Jacobs, with over 50,000 employees and revenues exceeding $8.0 billion, provides technical, professional and construction services globally.  The Austin Office has 105 employees and offers transportation and traffic engineering, toll systems services, Context Sensitive Design, public involvement, urban design and planning, landscape architecture, structural engineering, environmental engineering and construction management.

The ASCE Centennial Stamp (1852-1952)

by Melinda Luna, P.E. – History and Heritage Chair

The 1952 ASCE centennial was celebrated in many ways.  A stamp was issued titled: “Centennial of Engineering, 1852-1952” with the ASCE shield on the stamp and two bridges representing the 100 years of civil engineering projects.  In recent years, the design of the stamp has been met with some controversy for many reasons.  Various concerns have been expressed by researchers who have studied the stamp.

One point of controversy is the fact that the stamp does not mention the word civil in its title except for the ASCE shield.  This was perhaps due to the fact that, at the time of the stamp’s issue, the ASCE membership also included a significant number of military engineers.  The title Centennial of Military/Civil/All other Engineering” might have seemed too long and any long description would have simply been to big to fit on the small stamp.

The second point of contention is the fact that bridges are used to represent all civil engineering projects. While bridges are the most common project associated with civil engineers, a composite photo with several types of projects might have been more appropriate. Perhaps this was a limit of the line drawing and the ability to clearly depitct an image in a 1” x 1.5” area?

The third and fourth concerns expressed about the stamps relate to the details of the two bridges, which are supposed to symbolize the periods of 1852 and 1952.  The suspension bridge and covered bridge were both in use by 1852.   It was the George Washington Bridge which was selected to represent the year 1952, however, the Washington Bridge was actually completed in 1931.  And there is no doubt that other bridges such as the Golden Gate or even more complex San Francisco Bridge were further on the forefront of technical limits at that time.  The Golden Gate Bridge was selected as one of the seven wonders of the modern world, a point which is hard to over look. The crux of this debate is that the bridges depicted represent only two decades of the 100 years which were the focus of the ASCE anniversary celebration.

Not much history on the design of the stamp has be researched and published, however there is some research underway.  Perhaps the next stamp issued in celebration of an ASCE anniversary will be less controversial.  It is challenging to represent the great variety of work that civil engineers do to improve the quality of life in a 1” x 1.5” image!  Personally, I think that the 1952 stamp is a great piece of ASCE memorabilia and that it is great that people used the stamp to mail letters when stamps were only three cents!

Call for Structures Congress 2009 Conference (Austin, TX) Speakers/Papers!

You are invited to submit your proposals and/or paper abstracts for the 2009 STRUCTURES CONGRESS. Proposals should focus on topics consistent with the list published in this announcement. Session requests and paper abstracts should be no more than two printed pages per abstract and must be submitted through the SEI Website at www.SEInstitute.org.

SESSION REQUESTS need to include the session title and a short description of the session, name of proposed session chair and contact information (including email address), and name of the organizing/sponsoring committee (if applicable), as well as each presenter/author’s name and contact information (including email address), and each paper’s title. Each author/presenter in the proposed session MUST individually upload their abstract and select the proposed session as its topic (session MUST be uploaded first). Sessions organized by committees of SEI/ASCE are strongly encouraged.

PAPER ABSTRACTS must include each author’s full name, credentials, affiliation, location, and contact information (including email address). Abstracts will be reviewed and should be sufficient to judge the quality and appropriateness of the work for the Congress. Any special comments, such as session, track, or topic for which the paper is best suited, should be written at the bottom of the abstract page.

EXPENSES All expenses related to preparing and presenting the papers, including camera-ready manuscripts and illustrations, are the responsibility of the authors and co-authors.

Due Date: June 10, 2008

YMF Update

by Kimberly Patak, P.E. – Younger Member Forum President

How has this year’s election affected you? Have you started paying more attention than you ever have before? Have you started analyzing how you really feel about each issue and how this will affect your daily life? If you’re like me, you might be interested to know that ASCE has a way to keep you in the loop about the issues that will affect your professional life, which in turn affects your daily life. It is called the ASCE Key Contact Program.

The Key Contact Program is a valuable program for those of you that want to be engaged in public policy activities and would like to influence elected officials and their decisions that affect your life. By signing up for the program, you will receive an informative email each Friday called “This Week in Washington”. It will provide you with a brief update on key issues affecting civil engineering at the federal and state levels. Key alerts arrive when specific action is needed to support civil engineering issues. Also, you can use the “Six Clicks” advocacy website to communicate with your legislators. The program is free for ASCE members. For more information and to sign up go to www.asce.org/keycontacts. It is one step that you can take to stay on the forefront of critical issues that affect our future.

On a lighter note, it’s time for a happy hour! Please meet me at The Draught House on Wednesday, March 19 after work. Free gold fish to anyone that can get a tailgating spot in the parking lot! If you haven’t been to the legendary Draught House before, please check out their website at www.draughthouse.com.

And one more very important thing - I want to hear from you. I want to know what you would like to do with YMF. What activities could we organize that you would like to take part in? Please email me at kkp@freese.com with your suggestions. There are more than 300 young engineers in the Austin YMF, but only 20 on our luckiest day ever show up. Help us make this an organization worth having.  

ASCE Student Chapter – March Briefing from UT

by Ryan Rush, UT Student Chapter Corporate Relations Officer

As the weather warms up, it gives students more chances to get involved in the UT ASCE student chapter. Not only are we out at Town Lake paddling every Sunday in preparation for the Concrete Canoe competition, but we are also starting to practice for our IM Softball team. After returning most of the team, we look to improve on last year’s 2-2 record.

The University of Texas Seismic team had a good showing at the annual Seismic Competition in New Orleans on February 8^th. The team finished 2^nd in the nation which is quite an accomplishment as this is only the second year that the University of Texas has ever competed in the National Seismic Competition which is dominated by California schools. After many ASCE students helped in various aspects of the construction of the five foot balsa wood structure, Ty Womble, Martin Scales, Matt Homer, James Kleineck, Ariana Alvear represented UT at the competition.

February marked another busy month for UT ASCE Outreach. On February 16^th, several students judged at the Austin math counts competition. Later in the day, we sent the troops over to the Austin Children’s Museum to help out in the Engineering Day demonstrations. Later in the month, 10 students visited Spicewood Elementary school to talk about how fun it is to be an engineer. Students were amazed that our concrete blocks (used in construction of the Concrete Canoe) would float in water. Their favorite part was the finale where each student got to build their very own paper helicopter.

In February, UT ASCE was happy to welcome back two former ASCE officers, Gary Lehman of Malcolm Pirnie, and Amy Stonaker from Cobb, Fendley, and Associates. Both speakers were able to show how getting involved early with ASCE has propelled them to be successful in their respective careers. If your company would like to get involved with ASCE, please contact Ryan Rush at ryan@mail.utexas.edu. With half of our meeting slots for the 2008-2009 academic year already booked, we are looking to fill our remaining bi-weekly meetings with companies that have interesting projects and great opportunities to share with our students. 

Our website can be found at www.ut-asce.org. It contains information for Technical Competitions, Outreach, IM Sports, and Social Events as well as useful contact information to reach our officers.

UT ASCE Member Andrew Hart volunteers his time to help students make Delta Wing Flyers at the Austin Children’s Museum

7^th Annual Engineer’s Day at

The Austin Children’s Museum…

A Huge Success!!

The ASCE Austin Branch’s 7^th Annual Engineers Day at the Austin Children’s Museum was held Saturday February 16^th 2008. The event drew over 600 children to the museum and through our engineering activities, shattering our last record of just over 400 children!!  The kids built helicopters, hoop gliders, newspaper towers, and spaghetti and marshmallow bridges and had a great time while learning about civil engineering!

We especially want to thank ACEA for co-sponsoring the event this year, and hope to have them on-board as a co-sponsor for many years to come. Our individual sponsors also provided funding for the giveaway bags, providing free t-shirts, construction toys and hard hats for each child who completed the events. 

A special thanks also goes out to OVER 70 VOLUNTEERS who helped work the event, including over 25 UT students, and representatives from many of our sponsor companies listed below! We hope you enjoyed the event and will volunteer again next year!

Anyone interested in helping with the event next year and becoming a  PR Committee Member, please email any of the existing PR Committee members: Linda Barlow at lbarlow@hvj.com; Sharon Hamilton at Sharon.Hamilton@CASEngineers.com; John Conquest at JDCONQUEST@mactec.com; Cesar Calderon at calderon@guerra.com; or Jennifer Otterson at JMOtterson@pbsj.com.

Thanks so much to the sponsors who provided financial support for this year’s event: 

Austin Branch ASCE	Earth Tech, Inc.	Kurkjian Engineering Corporation
Greater Austin Contractors and Engineers Association	Encotech Engineering Consultants, Inc.	LOPEZGARCIA GROUP
Baer Engineering and Environmental Consulting, Inc.	Halff Associates, Inc.	MWM Design Group
Duke’s Root Control	HVJ Associates, Inc.	PBS&J
EADOC	Jose I. Guerra, Inc.	Urban Design Group

ASCE Spring/Summer 2008 Continuing Education Seminars

from Michael W. Cook – Senior  Manager, ASCE Geographic Services

In our continuing effort to enhance communications between ASCE’s Sections, Branches and ASCE National, Geographic Services is pleased to advise you of the following seminars scheduled in your geographic area from April  through September 2008:

May 1-2, 2008

Austin, TX

Strategic Planning, Valuation & Ownership Transitions for Engineering Firms (Management and Leadership)

May 8-9, 2008

San Antonio, TX

Risk Assessment in Geotechnical Engineering ~NEWLY UPDATED! (Old Title: Probabilistic Methods in Geotechnical Engineering) (Geotechnical)

May 29-30, 2008

Corpus Christi, TX

Design of Buildings in Coastal Regions (Structural)

May 29-30, 2008

San Antonio, TX

Effective Project Risk Management (Management and Leadership)

June 19-20, 2008

Dallas, TX

Financial Management for the Professional Engineer (Management and Leadership)

September 11-12, 2008

San Antonio, TX

Pipe and Pipeline Renewal (Geotechnical)

September 25-26, 2008

San Antonio, TX

Construction Cost Estimating for the Civil Engineers ~NEW! (Construction/Development)

These in-depth, practice-oriented programs are produced by ASCE’s Continuing Educations Department and may be of interest to many ASCE members in your Sections and Branches.  We would greatly appreciate if you would consider positing information on these seminars in your newsletters and on your websites.

Information on seminars scheduled in other ASCE Regions can be found under the Region maps on ASCE’s website at http://www.asce.org/inside/sec_brnch.cfm,  Detailed descriptions of the seminars (by title) are available on ASCE’s website at www.asce.org/conted/seminars.

If you have questions or need assistance, please contact Kelly Jarvis, Continuing Education Registrar at kjarvis@asce.org, or me at mcook@asce.org.

Thank You to Our 2008 Sponsors

Want to be an Austin Branch Sponsor?  Gives your company advertising and free postings on our online job board.  Click here for more information.

© 2008 Austin Branch American Society of Civil Engineers

The Austin Branch Newsletter gives you the latest information on ASCE events and activities.  To inquire about this newsletter or to publish articles contact the Communications Director.  Contact information for our Board of Directors can be found at www.austinasce.org.

National ASCE – www.asce.org      Texas Section – www.texasce.org